I started on the Indoor Rower at Sobell's Gym in Aberdare in July 2001, initially taking to the Rower as it least affected my arthritis. At first, just doing 2,000 metres was a trial, but soon I got to doing 20 minutes at a time. Looking up 'rowing the Atlantic' on Google, I learned that they row an hour on, an hour off, 24 hours a day for 60 days, something that made my 20 minutes look pathetic. I set myself the goal of rowing 100 kilometres as a total. When I reached 100 km, 500 km became the goal; after that, it was to row the equivalent distance of the Atlantic in the gym. To date I'm on 1540 km, which is about halfway fromTenerife to Barbados, so it is all downhill from here! After doing 500 km I discovered your Training Guide and changed my stroke entirely. My first 500 km was done with what I now regard as pathetic technique. There was no knowledge, just lots of frustration with life, which I pulled out of my shoulders as fast as I could. Now I fancy doing a coaching course, primarily to help myself, but maybe to help others. It is quite frustrating to see and hear other rowers who have not read your guidebook and row like a bull at the gate. I even sat next to a young rower whose coach had set him the objective of reaching 50 strokes per minute with no technique.In your guide book I read that at the top of the stroke you should think tall back, chest out. What a change to my posture that made! I do most of my rowing at 26-28 spm with the resistance on 3-5. My first, pre Guide, 500 km was done at 32-36 spm and the resistance on 10.I entered the 2003 Cardiff GP in the Men's 50+ Hwt and improved my personal best to 8:25, an improvement on 9:07, the best I'd managed working alone at the gym. During the Rugby World Cup, I'd manage 12 or 16 km while watching a game at the gym, sitting on a Rower ambling along until it got exciting, where upon my effort increased as the excitement increased and I'd finish the game on a big high, especially the 34 points scored by Wales against my other homeland New Zealand.Anybody interested in doing an Instructor Course should contact YMCAfit on [email protected] or 020 7343 1850.